An IoT-Based Solution for Smart Parking

Inefficient parking solutions in metropolitan areas contribute to the creation of traffic jams that lead to stress for the drivers and contribute toward greenhouse emissions. Since parking issues affect most of the citizens, it is hard to imagine future smart cities with efficient parking solutions. With the introduction of the Internet of things (IoT), objects are able to connect to the Internet and may collect data in real time. The potential of these data is enormous and may allow cities to move from estimates to concrete data, which enable precise predictive models to be created and improves urban area planning and scaling. For this reason, parking solutions would benefit from the introduction of the IoT concept of connecting everything. The paper overviews the most common parking solutions, analyzing their pros and cons. Then, it introduces an IoT-oriented smart parking system that can be deployed indoor and/or outdoor. With the proposed solution, drivers can remotely monitor the vacancy status of parking spots in real time through a mobile app (or even Web). Furthermore, the solution acts as a repeater, extending the wireless signal to parking slots that are distant from the primary access point. This solution is evaluated, demonstrated, and validated through a prototype, and it is ready for use.